I think my truck has covid

[Wrknrvr]

   I was thinking I should start our truck and let it warm up. It has been sitting since late December. So today I started it after checking under the hood. Oil and antifreeze levels look good. Just look around at the belts, for fuel leak and oil leak.

   So it stays plugged in so the batteries are always charging. Start the truck. It started fairly easy. So I was doing other stuff.

 

   And then it starts shaking gently. 1/2 tank of fuel. So the codes are saying cylinder number three. Do some thinking, call a old friend that worked these engines for years.

  We talked about the pass through connection for the fuel injector. 

 

   Thinking, could it be covid.

    At this moment I must be off wondering about fishing,,,,,, sorta.

    If it is warm enough tomorrow I may hook a noid light to the wiring harness.  That would tell if it is the ecm, wiring harness or injector area.N14 Cummins engine.

 

   Will keep informed,    Vern

 

[mike5511]

Got a good friend who had a N14 Red-Headed SOB as he called it,  in a equipment hauler. He didn't use it much but always had injector problems. He got rid of it and got a truck with a Volvo motor in it. Now he's a Cummins man from way back. Ran the shop for a large trucking company before opening his own shop.  His conclusion; the N14 is a good motor, but it don't like setting. They were made to run daily and many do with great success, but if you let them sit a lot, you'll have injector problems. One man's experience/opinion I know. But this guy is a true mechanic, diesel or gas. FWIW

[Wrknrvr]

   Today I removed the number 3 wire plug from the pass trough connector. It only took 2 hrs of thinking, twisting and lubing. No Bad words said.

 

   Hooked up a noid light. Start engine and no voltage to the noid light.    So do some thinking, still no bad words said.   Then it hit me. Noid lights are directional. They are diode lights, so there is a one direction they work, and the other way they do not. Switched directions of the wires, start engine and there is power to the noid light as it is flashing. Maybe the ecm is good.

  So more thinking and decided to plug the plug back into the pass through fitting. Start the truck and it is running on a 6 cylinders.

 

   But that only work for and 8 minutes, then back to missing.

 

  Back to thinking, will make phone calls tomorrow and decide what to do.  Will keep informed 

 

 

 

[Jaydrvr]

You know, those pass throughs have been known to fail. I would have random missing on my number six cylinder and it never got fixed. Only playing around, pretending to diagnose and more bills. A shop north of Atlanta noticed that the retaining clip was broken on the pass through. Ordered the part, replaced the part, problem solved. How could it possibly take that many so called "professionals" to find that???? I'm sure I don't know, but I paid plenty of "incompetence tax" on that one. Jay

[Darryl&Rita]

Hot engine parts be damned, Vern. Get the noid on there when the stutter starts, especially after proving it isn't a cold issue.

[Wrknrvr]

     Thanks for your thoughts on this situation.

    Was doing some last minute test yesterday, but wanted to think about it overnight.

    When the truck started to miss again yesterday, I pressed down on that pass through connector. Thing sorta change it tone.

   I have been talking pictures of my diagnostics as much as I can or think of at the time. 

   Since I am not a diesel mechanic, I am slowly trying to decipher what my codes are showing. I do have a time on each photo .

  Wednesday it was showing number 3 a problem, then it showed the ecm as a problem as being bad.

    So with my mechanical workings yesterday, the display is showing number 3 as the problem, and the last photo shows ecm code as inactive.

 

    So today is not friendly to be outside working. But trying to figure out how to get the noid light in the wiring system on number 3 cylinder. I am thinking that the wiring harness end rubber seals are hard. I can get those ends for 4 dollars apiece. It does look like I am going to order 6 pass through connectors. I think I will cut 2 small grove in the rubber seal on the pigtail for number 3 and since I am using a led light that has wires about 3” long , I can possibly strip the insulation back to push into the connector. I also have some of the female connect pins in my work stuff. I was thinking I may be able to extend the connection from the pass through connector out of the housing for better working conditions.

   I hope number 3 is the bad one. I may need to take the jake assembly off to access the injector wiring on the inside. So if the is the case, I will do nuber4 while I am in there.

   I will try to post a video about the pass through connector.

[Wrknrvr]

https://youtu.be/dlGjWg1KtPo

  I think I figured something out on my own.

 

  I sure hope I can figure out the engine situation out. This video is very interesting. I think it may be pointing to my situation. Or at least part of it.

[Darryl&Rita]

You could be on the right track with heat issues in the ECM, Vern. The N14 ECM has a history of driver problems, with temp increases making them worse. I'd spend a little more time on the wiring, another known troublespot, before sending the ECM to someone like ECM King for their free testing. 

[Wrknrvr]

  This is a poor mans Noid light. It is a diode light. If you use one, remember there is a diode in it. So it only works one way.

i bought several years ago for small lights to signal switches in our truck. This is left over from that project.

   I think I can strip the insulation off about a 1 1/2” and make it fit in my wiring harness.

  That should tell me if the ecm or harness is cutting out. Or if it is towards the injector 

 

 

[Wrknrvr]

   I ordered parts today. Looking a the wiring connections from exterior of the head to the injector.

  May do some more testing tomorrow.

  Will keep informed.

[Wrknrvr]

   Today I decided the weather was good to work on the truck.

   First of all I did get two pass through connectors for the cylinder head. The diagnostics was saying number 3 cylinder was the problem. So I was looking at putting the pass through in. But first I decided to make a tester for the injector wiring, as now I had a way to hook a noid light into the wiring fairly simple. 

  Get it hooked up to. Started the engine . Runs as expected. Close to 20 minutes idling. Temperatures came up.

  Checking things so I decided to give it some throttle.

 

   Not good.  Miss firing a lot, when rpms are going up.

 

   Let it idle and it sits there doing its thing as it is supposed to.     I believe that since it has rained here this winter a lot. I am thinking water has run down over the wiring and ecm.      Will get back to it next week.

  Will keep informed.

[Wrknrvr]

Could it be water in the fuel.

 Will look in the am. But busy with other stuff to be doing tomorrow. Will check the filters hopefully on Saturday.

[Darryl&Rita]

1 hour ago, Wrknrvr said:

Could it be water in the fuel

Depending on the age of your filters, many come with a water drain on the bottom. Our FleetGuard filters do.

[Wrknrvr]

    Thanks for your input Darryl,

 

 

   I think I found a culprit in my tanks. I would say it is not covid.

 

   As it is black in color. Like sludge some may call it. I looked into the tanks and it is there.

    So now how do I remove it. I am thinking with a pump, filtration system and possibly pump the fuel into the other tank. Then what treatment do I use in the tanks.   I an going to try and find my assorted things I need today to accomplish this task.

     So should I clean out as much of the black stuff as I can with a pump. Or how do I solve this situation.

   I think I should not start the truck again until I deal with this. Then I will check the filters and replace if needed. Also get extra filters while I am out today.

 

  Thanks in advance for questions or comments.   Be it be good or badddd.

[Darryl&Rita]

Clear fuel with a worm shaped object on the bottom of the tanks, or a general coffee appearance? The worm can usually be "vacuumed" out via a siphon tube, and a metal tube to get into the tank. Coffee needs to be filtered out, and fuel returned to the tank. The fuel goes in a circle, multiple time, until it's clear again.

[mike5511]

On 3/23/2023 at 6:33 PM, Darryl&Rita said:

Depending on the age of your filters, many come with a water drain on the bottom. Our FleetGuard filters do.

But don't leave it open but a second or you might loose prime..........learned the hard way.

 

[mike5511]

11 hours ago, Wrknrvr said:

    Thanks for your input Darryl,

 

 

   I think I found a culprit in my tanks. I would say it is not covid.

 

   As it is black in color. Like sludge some may call it. I looked into the tanks and it is there.

    So now how do I remove it. I am thinking with a pump, filtration system and possibly pump the fuel into the other tank. Then what treatment do I use in the tanks.   I an going to try and find my assorted things I need today to accomplish this task.

     So should I clean out as much of the black stuff as I can with a pump. Or how do I solve this situation.

   I think I should not start the truck again until I deal with this. Then I will check the filters and replace if needed. Also get extra filters while I am out today.

 

  Thanks in advance for questions or comments.   Be it be good or badddd.

Do you know why?  Based on what I've read and learned from others, that is bio-fuel that has set too long and now has fungi is growing in it.

[Wrknrvr]

     I am hoping to find some water detecting paste today locally. Then I can find out how much water is in the tanks. If any.

    I do have a 12vdc fuel pump with me to transfer diesel to my Aquahot fuel tank. I also have a filter assembly with me that has a clear sediment bowl on it. Although it is a low volume pump.

   I can see a few black blobs on the bottom of the right tank. I need to look at YouTube videos on how to do this, as for a good way to put the treatment in. Should I just pour it in, or pump it in to the bottom of the Tank.

    The truck is sitting down hill enough that it is not level. I also have a remote camera that I can see maybe 30”. I am thinking this will be a learning curve for me. I also think I may stop at a local farm store to find some useful information tomorrow.

   It is raining here today, but will test the one filter that has a drain on it tomorrow before I do anything other than testing for water.

   Thanks for your help,    Vern

[Wrknrvr]

I took this photo about 8:30 am today. I cannot see a water line in the fuel. So I will probably get the paste for testing water in the fuel tomorrow am.

   We are going to have storms today. So just staying at the campground today. And read and watch videos on what to do.

   I did get a bio kleen and a Clear -diesel treatment to use.

     Back about 10 years ago I had dealt with a leaking fitting on the splitter valve under the cab, that deals with fuel evenly. Eventually I replaced the valve to solve the problem.   I will crawl under the truck tomorrow am, or when it is dry under there before I do the tank stuff.

Edited March 26, 2023 by Wrknrvr

[lappir]

Vern, 

If you have that pump, I'd just put it in deep and pump to a clear vessel. You will be able to see if there is water in it after it settles. Depending on how full the tanks are just adding treatment might help. Could the "Black Blobs" be "Algae"?

I went up and read a bit of the earlier posts. If it were me, I'd drain the tanks and find a good place to burn the fuel without it having to go through injectors. Sure you might be able to buy enough filters and pumps and stuff,  but in the long run I think the least expensive is to just drain, clean and before your next trip refill. 

 

Rod

[Wrknrvr]

[Wrknrvr]

I usually check my takes several times a year. Never seen this before.

  I am thinking of putting a fiberglass rod in the tank and see if that black spot will distort if possible.

 On draining my tanks, I am sitting in a campground.?

Edited March 26, 2023 by Wrknrvr

[Darryl&Rita]

20 minutes ago, Wrknrvr said:

Yup, your truck has worms. Could be bio-contamination. Doesn't look like asphaltenes. You're South-East this winter, right. Find you a boat area, ask around. You're looking for a fuel polishing company. They pull fuel out, filter it, and send back to the tank. Big business around boatyards.

[rickeieio]

Algae in diesel has been a problem forever, much longer than we've had bio-diesel.

X2 what Darryl said.

[Wrknrvr]

  I think once I drain my first filter that has a drain on it I will decide what to do.      I am thinking of adding the treatment to the tanks and circulate it for a number of hours.

    It is about to start raining for a few hours, then when it stops I will try to get my remote camera in the tank and look forwards in the tank.

   I will test my pump system on a fuel tank I have for the Aquahot unit.   I was thinking of putting the pump in that take to check it a few weeks ago.

 

   I originally was leaving in a week. Buuuutttt that will be postponed.

    Or is it fuel and electrical combination that is a problem.

 

   Thanks for all the help,   Vern